The Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association representing the dietary supplement and functional food industry, held a virtual “Supplement Advocacy Send-In” event this year, in lieu of its annual “Day on the Hill” federal advocacy event. In light of COVID-19 and the related closures restricting access to representatives, the event served as an online drive for CRN and its member companies to contact their congressional representatives remotely to deliberate on key industry issues.
 
“Advocating for our members and the entire dietary supplement industry continues to be a top priority for CRN regardless of whether or not we can meet with representatives on Capitol Hill,” Julia Gustafson, vice president of government relations for CRN, said. “The issues most important to the industry, including the need for CBD to be regulated as a dietary supplement, have not gone away since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The success of the Send-In speaks to the dedication of our members to addressing these challenges and enhancing the dietary supplement marketplace.”
 
Over a year ago, the FDA completed a public hearing on Scientific Data and Information about Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-Derived Compounds, at which time CRN joined the industry in submitting a Citizen Petition calling on the agency to use its statutory discretion to permit CBD to be sold as a declared ingredient in dietary supplements.
 
Following up on the one-year anniversary of this public hearing, which was reopened, CRN activated member companies with operations all over the country to contact their congressional representative on the issue. Over the course of six weeks, CRN members sent 127 letters to 100 representatives from 30 states requesting that they echo the association’s call to action and urge FDA to establish a legal pathway for CBD to be regulated as a dietary supplement ingredient.
 
“We were able to come together and raise our collective virtual voices to advocate for real change during a time that requires us to be apart,” Gustafson said. “Communication between industry stakeholders and government officials is more important now than ever. If FDA fails to act on CBD, consumer interest will continue to grow along with a thriving but plainly unlawful array of CBD products.”